This invention relates to an electrical connection box to be mounted on a vehicle or the like, and more particularly to an electrical connection box in which a body and a mounting member to be mounted on the body are releasably connected together through a hinge.
An electrical connection box (also called a junction block) includes a body including a housing having a plurality of electronic parts (such for example as fuses, relays, etc.) received therein, and an electronic control unit (ECU) (serving as a mounting member) having a control circuit for controlling the plurality of electronic parts.
Generally, the above electrical connection box is constructed such that the electronic control unit is incorporated in the housing of the body (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). In recent years, however, in order to enhance the efficiency of maintenance in the event of a malfunction of the control circuit or the electronic control unit and also to reduce the cost required for exchanging parts, there have been used electrical connection boxes of the type in which an electronic control unit having a control circuit received in a housing separate from a housing of a body is fixedly attached to the body by fixing means such as a lock, a hinge, screws or others (see, for example, Patent Literature 2).
In the electrical connection box disclosed in Patent Literature 2, the electronic control unit and the body are fixed to each other by a hinge and locks so that the former can be easily attached to the body with less time and labor. This hinge includes a hook formed at one end of the electronic control unit, and a hook receiving recess which is formed at one end of the body such that the hook can be rotatably and releasably received in this hook receiving recess. The lock includes a lock arm formed at the other end of the electronic control unit, and a lock arm insertion hole which is formed in the other end of the body such that the lock arm can be engaged in this lock arm insertion hole. In this electrical connection box, the hook is engaged in the hook receiving recess, and then the electronic control unit is rotatably moved toward the body about the hook, so that the lock arm is engaged in the lock arm insertion hole, thereby fixing the electronic control unit to the body.                [Patent Literature 1] JP-A-2006-187052        [Patent Literature 2] JP-A-9-163552        
In the electrical connection box disclosed in the above Patent Literature 2, a clearance is formed between the electronic control unit and the body for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency of the operation for mounting the electronic control unit on the body and also for reasons of design. However, there has been encountered a problem that this clearance is a factor in the development of a relative shaking movement between the electronic control unit and the body after the electric control unit is attached to the body.
The above problem of the shaking movement can be dealt with, for example, by fixing the electronic control unit and the body together by screws after the former is attached to the latter. In this case, however, there arises another problem that the number of component parts increases, and besides the operation for mounting the electronic control unit on the body becomes cumbersome.